Tomorrow is a new day
by FugitiveJuliana
Summary: Elevators can be unpredictable. House and Cameron end up in a broken one.


Author: bluejulie

Title: Tomorrow is a new day

Pairing: Cameron/House

Raiting:fanfic - t (teen) [13 and older

Genre: romance

Words: 1.900

Spoilers: none

Summary: Damn elevators, they break down when you least expect it. ;-) 

**TOMORROW IS A NEW DAY**

"That kid has been through a lot lately," Cameron said. 

"So? He still behaves like a jerk!" House shrugged and waited for the elevator to arrive. He was taping his cane against the floor. You have to be one to recognize one, Cameron thought.

"His mom nearly died and he was only trying to protect her," she said emphatically. With House behaving like a maniac the child had no way of knowing he was one of the good guys and was only trying to help his mother.

The elevator door opened and two nurses exited. Cameron was grateful the elevator was empty apart from them so she could keep her distance from House.

"Right, kiddies are such angels," House rolled his eyes at her. "I don't get it why are we even talking about this."

"You're trying to avoid talking about it because you know you're wrong. I'm not saying kids are angels inherently. But if you raise them correctly, they can turn out to be good, caring people," Cameron insisted, avoiding to look into House's inquisitive eyes.

He mumbled something incoherent and leaned onto the wall of the elevator.

The lights suddenly flickered and then the elevator jolted to a stop. Cameron let out a muffled cry and held onto the handle running around the elevator walls. 

"What was that?" she asked in a scared voice.

House tried pressing various buttons, but the elevator didn't move.

"I'm guessing we're stuck!" he stated the obvious after several attempts.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Cameron said disbelievingly.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine," House said calmly. 

Cameron went quiet for a second, then said, "Was that an actual attempt at reassuring me?" She snickered, "I didn't think you had it in you."

Embarrassed, he kept pressing the buttons, knowing that it wouldn't help. 

"I just can't believe our luck," Cameron said. "Do you at least have your cell phone to call for help?"

"No, left it in the office," House checked his pockets in case he was wrong. He wasn't, unfortunately.

"Mine's in the locker room," Cameron said desperate. 

"Let's do this then," said House and pressed the alarm button with his cane. The wailing of the alarm started and filled the small space of the elevator.

"Great! We're not only stuck, but we have to listen to this howling too?" Cameron looked at him pissed. The day was just getting better and better.

"Maintenance will turn it off once they start fixing the problem."

"That's a relief!" she scoffed.

"Just calm down," he begged and leaned back onto the elevator wall.

They were both silent for several minutes, until the alarm went dead just as House guessed it would.

Cameron sighed relieved. At least now they only had to wait for someone to rescue them from the elevator. She hoped it wouldn't last long, because being confined with House in such a small space and under these circumstances wasn't something she was looking forward to. She knew he'd get annoyed soon and would lash out on her. So she had to keep him busy, she thought. Only with what?

"Ever thought of having kids yourself?" she asked, their previous conversation the only thing she could think of.

"Sure, cause I'd be a great parent and I'm so fit to run around after a toddler," he rolled his eyes, gesturing to his cane.

"Well, at least you'd have your cane ready to spank him, if he did something bad," she giggled, more relaxed again.

"Him?"

"I can just see you with a son. Not so much with a daughter. You'd have a strong bond with a son, all the things you'd teach him …" She blushed at the intimacy of her words. When did they get from the patient to that?

"We're talking about a son that I'll have with one of my hookers, right?" he said with a raised eyebrow. "Because if you haven't noticed – no relationship here, no woman to bear me children."

Tired from the long standing, he leaned onto the elevator wall and slowly, awkwardly slid to the floor to rest. His cane fell and he didn't bother picking it up.

"So? It's never too late."

"The only woman crazy enough to even try it left me for someone else," he said resentfully, not looking at her. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, wondering why he was even responding to her words. But he knew time will pass more quickly if they talk.

For a second she watched him, wondering what was going on in his head.

"That's not what I heard."

"That's cause you're listening to gossip," he made a face.

"You drove Stacy away, she didn't leave you," Cameron insisted. 

"Yeah, cause you were there and you really know what happened," he rolled his eyes again, but looked away quickly.

Cameron crouched down. "I talked to Stacy and she told me what happened so don't lie to me. Or to yourself. She wanted to be there for you, but you pushed her away."

He opened his mouth to protest, but when he saw her earnest look, he said instead, "Couldn't we talk about something else?"

She ignored him. 

"You could have a relationship if you wanted to, but you don't. Why?" Her big eyes were staring at him like he was about to reveal the greatest secret of all. But there were no alluring secrets in him, he felt just empty, void of anything.

She observed him, helplessly sitting on the ground, waiting for the engineers to fix the elevator so he could run away from her inquisitiveness and worrying. But until then, he had nowhere to go, he couldn't even move fast enough to get out of her way. In a quick manoeuvre she made another step and straddled him. She could hear his breath hitch from the shock and she smiled inside. 

"Cameron, what …" He didn't have time to finish when she kissed him fully on his mouth, cupping his face in her hands. At first, he was still, then his lips started to move, to respond. She felt like champagne bubbles welled up inside her when she felt the touch of his tongue as his kiss intensified. She'd been waiting for this for months … Dreaming about it, but the dreams were never so real.

"Cameron …" he gasped and pushed her slightly away.

"Have you lost your mind!" He seemed angry, his eyes were flashing. Cameron only smiled and kept stroking his face, till he grabbed her hands and pulled them away from his face.

He opened his mouth again, but she beat him to it. "House, you can't be responsible for everyone."

His brow furrowed.

"We're all grown-ups, we're capable of making our own decisions and bearing the consequences. You can't save us from erring by keeping us at a distance. Let us make our own choices."

"I'm not …"

"You are …"

"Will you, please, let me talk, you mad woman!" he interrupted.

"No, because you talk rubbish. Well, most of the time, anyway," she said with a slight smirk. 

Although he was holding her hands in his, he had little control over her. She kissed him again, this time less forcefully, giving him a chance to break the kiss. But he didn't. She felt him free her hands as his own traveled slowly up her back. She grinned into the kiss, but he noticed it and pulled back.

"This is insane!" he mumbled and turned his face away. "We're sitting in a broken down elevator …"

"House …" she didn't know how to say it. If he wasn't being honest with her, she would be honest with him, she thought. "I know you and by this time I thought you'd know me too."

He finally looked at her, wondering what she was getting at.

"You should know I'm not asking for a declaration of undying love or anything like that."

She stroked his cheek slowly. "I know you can't make big steps with an injured leg."

Somehow his scrambled brain registered that she wasn't actually talking about his leg. But anything beyond that was incomprehensible to him in the state he was in.

"But small steps are ok, too. They can take you far, if you're persistent enough."

Almost before she could finish talking, he pulled her to him. His hand found its way under her lab coat and her pullover. She felt his warm touch on her skin and she shivered. 

"Are you always this pushy with men?" he asked frowning.

She thought he was serious, but then the corners of his lips started to twitch.

"No, you're the only one …" Her breath hitched when she heard her own words. "… I'm pushy with, I mean," she added frantically.

His laughter rose as a low rumble from his chest and just before he kissed her again, he said, "Good. I wouldn't want you to be pushy with anyone else."

Her eyes prickled with tears but she held them back, because she knew he'd hate her sentimentality.

She leaned into his large frame, relishing the feel of his strong arms around her. She forgot where they were, till the elevator shuddered and then jolted.

Cameron jumped back, frightened by the motion.

"It's the elevator, it's moving," House said and placed a hand on her forearm to calm her.

Cameron looked like the surroundings were a surprise to her, then she finally returned back to reality.

The elevator really started to descend slowly.

"Well, we have to get back to the real world," House said and reached for his cane. She looked at him afraid that his words meant the end of it all. He noticed her anxious stare.

"For now, anyway," he added and started slowly to get up. Happy, she took hold of his hand and helped him stand up. 

Before they could brush the dust from their clothes, the elevator door opened onto an anxious Wilson and Cuddy and a group of nurses.

All of them expecting House and Cameron to be upset over the incident were surprised to see a grinning Cameron and an indifferent House standing unharmed in front of them.

"What happened?" asked Wilson suspiciously as Cameron hurried past him, still smoothing her lab coat.

"Hey, Cameron," House said after her and she stopped and turned. "You'd be surprised at the length of my stride when I wanna get somewhere," he said with a smirk and Cameron grinned even wider.

Mystified by House's comment and Cameron's mad grinning, Wilson turned directly to House and whispered, "Did you feel her up in the elevator?" He suspected something must've happened for Cameron to be so happy.

"No, she was feeling me up," House said with a smirk.

"Right. Next you'll have me believe that tomorrow you'll come to work all happy and cheerful," Wilson rolled his eyes and exchanged a look with a worried Cuddy.

"Why not? Tomorrow's a new day," House said and walked past all of them with an amused grin.

"But … but … but …" Wilson stammered and then searched for someone in the lobby that would be capable of explaining to him what had just happened. But all he saw were equally dumbfounded stares all around. 


End file.
